Driver care is still the key

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Cars are potential "lethal weapons" for unsuspecting toddlers,
even if they are moving forward, a federal minister has warned.

The dangers of reversing cars - in particular four-wheel-drives,
which have relatively low rear visibility - have been much
publicised.

But the federal Minister for Roads, Jim Lloyd, said that all
moving cars could be dangerous, and he was not sure that video
cameras and audio warning devices, commonly proposed additions to
four-wheel-drives, were the answer to the problem of children
killed in car accidents.

"I'll be talking to my department to see if we can get a
stronger message out there in relation to safety of young children
around moving vehicles," he said.

His comments came after it emerged that the former rugby union
international Phil Kearns was moving forward in his Volkswagen
Touareg, rather than backwards, when he accidentally hit his
daughter on Saturday. The 19 month old, Andie, was hit by the
four-wheel-drive in the driveway of their Mosman home.

The toddler is still in a critical condition in the intensive
care unit of Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, a condition that
had not changed since she was admitted on Saturday, said a hospital
spokeswoman, Jan Forrester.

Peter Robertson, general manager of the vehicle safety standards
branch of the Department of Transport and Regional Services,
stressed that parental supervision was the key to avoiding
accidents.

"It's very difficult for any technology to take the place of
basic supervision. Even if you had cameras, motion sensors, all
sorts of things, it may not help."

From 1999 to 2001 30 children died across the country after
being hit by a car in their driveways, Mr Lloyd said. Of them, 47
per cent were hit by cars moving forward.

In the wake of the Kearns accident and the 2002 death of Bethany
Holder - run over by a Nissan Patrol in her Collaroy schoolyard - a
number of four-wheel-drive makers have either added rear-vision
cameras as standard features to their models or are considering
adding them across their range.

Kevin Taylor, media relations manager of Mitsubishi Motors
Australia, said the company was considering "very seriously" the
possibility of adding the cameras across all their
four-wheel-drives.

"We've been considering it [since] that [Bethany] Holder case a
little while ago."

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1130006061394-smh.com.auhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/national/driver-care-is-still-the-key/2005/10/24/1130006061394.htmlsmh.com.auSydney Morning Herald2005-10-25Driver care is still the keySamantha Selinger-MorrisNationalhttp://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/05/27/th_4wd_index-thumb__60x40.jpg